Wheel construction.



E. E. EINFELDT.

` WHEEL consmuc'nopa. FPLICATIUN FILED NOV. I3 19|5.

11,249,356.v l Patented Deo. 11,1917.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERNEST E. EINFELDT, 0F DAVENPORT, IOWA, ASSIGNOR T0 G. WATSON FRENCH,NATHANIEL FRENCH, AND JOBE'H L. HECHT, ALL 0F DAVENPORT, IOWA, COMPOSINGTHE FIRM OF FRENCH @c HECHT, 0F DAVENPORT, 'IOW'AA WHEEL CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patentednee. 11, 191 '1.

Application nled November 18, 1915. Serial No. 61,282.

To au waom it may concern.'

Beit known that I, ERNEST E. EINFELDT, a eitiz'en of the United States,residin at Davenport, in the county of Scott and i tate of Iowa, haveinvented certain new and usefull Improvements lin Wheel Construction, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had therein tothe accompanying drawing.

This invention `relates to vehicle wheels and yhas reference moreparticularly to an improved construction of wheel to facilitate theattachment'of a 'rubber tire thereto.

In modern motor trucks, the wheels are commonly equi ped with solidrubber tires, consisting usua ly of a steel tire ring and a firmlyattached solid 'rubber tire proper. Tile" tire ring must be fastened tothe wheel with great firmness, and it is customary in applying the same,to force the tire ring under powerful pressure, over the wheel rim inthe case-of a metal wheel, or in the case of a wooden wheel, over thesteel band which surroundsthe elly. This operation is objectionablebecause of the necessity of forming the parts of accurate dimensions tosecure their proper and close fit, and also because there isrequired aspecial equipment for subjecting the tire ring to the great pressurerequired. Y

My invention aims to overcome these objections,l and it consists insplitting the rim of the wheel and in applyin between the split ends,anexpanding We ge or wed es, t e said parts being so relatively forme inthe improved manner to be more fully described hereinafter, that therinrV-after.- the application of thetire ring thereto by hand, may be exanded within the tire ring and he parts rmly connected together inoperativel relations.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown my invention embodied in anall. metal wheel, the expandingwedgesoperating between the split endsofthe metal wheel but it will be manifest that the invention is notlimited to this particular ty e of wheel, but may be applied to wooden weels, and. wheels of other forms and constructions, without de artingfrom the limits `of the invention. urther it will be understood that theinvention is not limited to'any' particular form or construction of theparts except in other. in a radial direction as shownin so far as suchlimitations are specified in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a wheel having my inventionellbodied therein, the tire ring with its rubber tire being omitted.

Fig. 2 is an inside face view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a section on an enlar ed scale on the line w--a of thepreceding gures.

Fig. 4. is a section taken axially of the wheel through the expandingwedges and adjacent parts of the wheel. l

Fig` 5 is a. perspective view of the expanding Wedges detached from. thewheel rim.

Referring to the drawings:

l represents a metal wheel consisting of the hub 2, rim 3 and the spokes4 connecting said parts. 5 represents a solid rubber tire applied to'atire ring 6, usually of steel, the rubber being preferably embedded inrecesses in the outer face of the ringrto enable the rubber tire to bebuilt up thereon, and to effect a firm and fixed attachment of therubber to the ring.

.In accordance with my invention, the rim 3 1s split at a point betweenadjacent spokes and theV split ends of the rim are forme with slopingsurfaces, between which are wedges 8, 8. These ges are provide .onopposite sides with. surfaces adapted to coprate with the slop ingsurfaces of the rim ends-in such manner that when the wedges are drawntogether by suitable means, the ends of the rim will be spread apart andthe rim as a whole ex pando-d, To adapt the parts to cooperate with eachother in this manner andin order to prevent the expanding wedges frombeing displaced rad1ally.,t e ends of therini are inclined in oppositedirections fromeach other from the center of the rim toward its side edes, thereby forming on each end, two sur .aces 11 slopling outwardlyL ina direction axially of t e wheel. ,The op osite surfaces 11 also' slopeinwardly towa each 3. The expandn wedges are "provided with surfaces 134w ich slope in an axial direction inwardl'y toward each other lfromtheir outer ends so as'4 to coperate with the surfaces 11 of the rimends, and also slope its tween the en inwardly toward each other in aradial direction to cooperate with the inwardslolpc of the surfaces 11.As a result of'this re ation ol the several surfaces, when the expandingwed es are seated end to end be s of therim as shown in Fig. l, theywillbe prevented from being displaced inwardly with reference tothe endsof the rim, -and in order to prevent their displacement in the oppositedirection, that is o| atwardly,thef wedges are provided on oppositesides with shoulders 12 which, as shown in Fig. 3, bear against theinner side of the rim adjacent the ends thereof. It is seen thereforethat by theprovision of the shoulders 12 and the inwardlyv slopingsurfaces on the wedges, the latter are guided in their axial movementsbetween the ends of the rim and are prevented from being displacedradially in either directi'on.

The wedges are provided with alined openings through which a bolt 14extends, a head 15 on one end of the bolt bearing against the outer endof one of the wedges, and a nut 16 on the opposite end of the boltbearing against the outer end of the. other Wedge, so that by screwingup the nut, the

wedges may be drawn toward each other, which action, due to thecoperation of the sloping surfaces on` the wedges and rimcnds,-wi1l'separate the latter and effect the general expansion of therim as a whole.

'In applying thel rubber tire to a `Wheel constructed in the mannerdescribed, the unf-igea are loosened up so as to permit the ends of thc.rim to approach each other. liliol tire' ring with the rubbertireattached,

' is then passed over the contracted rim,

'whereupon the nut is Screwed up to draw the wedges together, wlth theresult that the rim will be expanded' and caused to seat tightly landfirmly and with great force wil hin the s l'iifi'oundirig tire ring.

4lt is seen, therefore, that by reason of the construction ofthe rr'n sothat it may be expanded in the .manner described, the tire ring may bcapplied and firmly attached with facility and expedition, and Whollybyhand, thereby avoiding 1the expense of thc vrim provided on its endswith surfaces s special equipment which has heretofore been required inforcin the closed rim, and avoiding also the expensive operations ofaccurately forming the parts for close fitting.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In awheel, the combination of a split rim, the ends of which areprovided with surfaces sloping inwardly toward each other in a radialdirection, an axially movable expanding wedge provided with sloping sideedges 'seated between the sloping surfaces of the rim ends, said wedgebeing pro` vided with shoulders bearing against the inner face of therim, and means for moving the wedge axially within a surrounding tirering.

2. In a wheel, the combination of a s lit optoward each other in aradial direction, andsloping in opposite directions from the ccnterot'the rim toward its edges, two axially movable expanding wedges seatedbetween the ends of the rim and pro vided withsloping side edges.correspond ing to the sloplng surfaces of the rim ends, and means formoving said wedges axially in opposite directions to expand the rimwithin a. surrounding tire ring.

3. Ina Wheel, the combination of a split rim, the ends of which inclinefrom the center of the wheel outwardly from each other in opposite.directions toward the edges-of thejrini, and vwhich inclined ends slopeinwardly in a radial direction toward each other, twof expanding wedgesdisposed end to end between the ends of the rim and having slopingsurfaces coperatinp,r with those ing inwardly on the llm ends, saidwedges being provided ERNEST E. EINFELnT.

tire ring over a

